AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Officials are investigating why two older residents died at a Georgia personal care home, while three of their four fellow residents were hospitalized.
The Augusta Chronicle reports a medical examiner is working on autopsy reports for 84-year-old Georgia Blount and 75-year-old Sylvia Reid. They were found dead at the First Love Personal Care Home in Augusta on Sunday.
The residents who were hospitalized have been released and are in the care of their families.
An employee found Blount unresponsive with blood coming out of her mouth. Reid's body was found in similar condition in another room, according to an incident report.
The unidentified employee told the emergency operator she did not know CPR, a violation of state regulations. It was one of the violations cited during a Jan. 13 inspection that should have been corrected by the owner and verified by the state months ago.
The facilities regulations division has suspended annual inspection of the state's personal care homes because of the pandemic, but complaint investigations have continued, the department's Fiona Roberts said via email this week.
Richmond County district attorney's office Investigator William Loomer, who investigates crimes against the eldgerly, said he had made numerous complaints to the state about Carol Lisenbee's three personal care homes in Augusta. Nothing was ever done, Loomer said Thursday.
In May, Loomer submitted wanted posters to media outlets for help in locating sisters Kiana Harrison and Lakisha Harrison because of suspicions they might have committed financial crimes against residents at First Love homes. The next day, Lisenbee called the Richmond County Sheriff's Office to report someone had stolen the Harrisons' personnel files. Their mother worked at one of the homes, Lisenbee told the responding deputy.
Neither Harrison has been found yet, and both are believed to have moved out of state, Loomer said.
Although state inspectors have found violations at First Love, it has scored better on inspections than Lisenbee's other two homes. According to a July 23 inspection, the First Love home was infested with roaches and bed bugs, and one resident had been hospitalized with bed bug bites the month before.
Loomer said he is still waiting for reports from code inspection and the fire department for all three homes. The home on Sunday was incredibly hot inside and infested with bed bugs, he said.